


The New Guy

by babywarg (morphaileffect)



Series: DrPepperony Prompts and Fics [6]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Attraction, Drama, F/M, Light Angst, M/M, Other, Romance, Tony Stark Does What He Wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 02:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21008273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphaileffect/pseuds/babywarg
Summary: Tony may have forgotten to tell Pepper that Stephen was moving in.





	The New Guy

**Author's Note:**

> From an anonymous prompt on Tumblr: "Tony may have forgotten to tell Pepper that Stephen was moving in. "
> 
> Hmm, this...got a bit racier than originally intended. Just a bit XD

She used to ask herself what Tony saw in the new guy.

He was thin. Way too thin. Lean and well-muscled, sure, but Pepper used to think she preferred her men with more heft.

(And for a time, she fancied that Tony preferred his men that way, too.)

Maybe it was his brain? But there were plenty of smart people in the world. Few smarter than Tony, though, and she had to admit, this guy could give Tony a run for his money…

His snark? …Okay, that was likely. He didn’t always activate it, just when he was getting attitude from someone else first. And Pepper had to admit it was nice, having someone around who could turn the sass on and off.

In fact, it was overall _nice_ to have him around. He mostly kept to himself, but his very presence made a place feel…_safe_, in a way that didn’t really make sense to her.

And if he was in other people’s company - only Pepper and Tony, really, since it was their house - he would latch on to them, ask after their day, how he could help with anything. As if other people were his lifeline out of the chaos of his thoughts.

It was like he came into their house and established himself quietly, painlessly, filled a space Pepper had not even known was there.

***

Pepper could remember being majorly ticked, when Tony brought him home. Sure, she and Tony hadn’t placed a label on what they had between them, hadn’t committed to monogamy or anything so cliché…

But bringing home a handsome stranger and imposing him on _her_ personal space, on _her_ schedule, was a whole other ball game.

Tony had apologized profusely for forgetting to tell her, and tried to convince her that Stephen was staying with them simply because of “Avengers business.” But Pepper was no fool.

She could sense the attraction between the two men. It was in their body language, the looks they traded, the easy way they regarded each other: the way Tony, who was normally averse to being touched by strangers, didn’t mind being touched by this man - and in the way this man, who seemed to regard everyone else on earth with an air of superiority, seemed to relax and even act as if Tony was his _equal_.

When she tried talking to Tony about it, the best she got was an admission that yes, he was somewhat attracted to the new guy, and yes that _might_ have been a factor in him bringing the new guy home…but he was never, _ever_ going to act on what he felt.

He swore. He swore so passionately, so sincerely, that she decided to believe him.

She remembered feeling a bit hurt, in the beginning. Hurt and betrayed. And thinking of leaving, so that Tony could figure out what (and who) really mattered to him.

But Tony’s behavior toward her never changed. Not in the slightest. He was still obnoxious, and hilarious, and clingy, and romantic in all the weirdest ways.

Which led her to ask herself: if Tony’s feelings toward her hadn’t changed, was it really worth it to give up everything they had, just because of _one new guy?_

***

The only problem was that this “one new guy” messed with her convictions.

More than being unobtrusive, he actually proved himself pleasant to have around. For one thing, she _finally_ had someone to gripe to about Tony.

At the start, he only listened. But as time drew on, he started to smile familiarly. “Oh, yeah, that’s him,” he would say, with a note of fondness + exasperation that Pepper sometimes recognized in her own voice.

(Did he get it from her? Or was it always there?)

She also noticed that he sometimes stared at her. And dropped his gaze immediately when he saw her looking. Sometimes cleared his throat in an attempt to be respectful.

It was…cute.

So maybe she had started wearing sleeveless shirts and short shorts around the house, when he was there. So he had something to look at.

And maybe she noticed that he had started hanging around her more often, wearing tiny, tight shirts that showed off his lovely biceps (too bad he kept away from Tony’s closet, especially the shirts that had diamond-shaped cleavage windows - she loved those), volunteering to do more chores and making increasingly daring offers…like massages, and by the way, “tantric massage doesn’t need the steadiest hands, if you’re familiar with alternative ways of doing it.”

At first, she knew, he hid his scarred hands from her. Now he displayed them openly. The way he did with Tony.

And he started looking at her the way he did at Tony - with a level stare that was somehow both wary and predatory, lustful and shy.

She realized: maybe she was starting to see what Tony saw in him.

And then, she told herself, screw that.

She was starting to like him on her own.

He was sexy as hell.

***

Pepper might have underestimated how deeply the new guy had gotten under her skin. For one thing, she was surprised to find that she had stopped calling him “new guy” in her head.

He was Stephen.

Stephen motherfucking Strange, with the eyes and the hair and the voice and -

The very thought of him getting her wet.

One should not take it the wrong way, of course. Tony still occupied her thoughts.

But this guy…

Tony was a staple part of her fantasies. But now that Stephen had infiltrated her thoughts, too, she couldn’t stop herself from fantasizing about having them _both_.

At once. Or sometimes, just having them together. With her to watch.

Feeling weird about it had long gone out of style.

So when she caught them speaking to each other, she stayed quietly in the sidelines first, hoping they could work it out between themselves.

“She’s everything to me,” she overheard Tony saying. “But I’m worried she’s reacting badly to you, and – “

“She’s not reacting badly to me.” Stephen sounded sure, and she silently thanked him for it.

“Excuse me,” Tony answered, sounding indignant, “but I’ve known her for much longer, and I think I can tell when she’s being uncomfortable.”

_Uncomfortable?_ Pepper thought indignantly. _Do I_ look _uncomfortable, you clueless -_

“Tony,” she heard Stephen say gently, “you don’t need to say anything more. I’ll go.”

Oh, that was _it._

She cleared her throat. Both Stephen and Tony started. Were they really so into each other, that they didn’t notice her?

“Sorry for eavesdropping,” she said, without being sorry in the least, “but I think you boys might be overthinking things here…”

“Pep?!” Tony exclaimed. His eyes were huge. His breath was threatening to not leave his lungs.

“Tony,” she accosted. “Are you telling me you’ve _really_ never done anything with Stephen?”

“Never,” he answered with desperate speed, the playfulness in her voice flying right over his head. “Fuck, Pep, you know I love you. More than anything.”

_But you love him, too,_ Pepper said in her mind. _Guess what, Mr. Stark…?_

She stepped up close to them. First, kissed Tony on the lips. Exactly as he liked it, exactly as she knew how.

He moaned against her. That was all she wanted. Then she moved over to Stephen.

Stephen’s eyes went wide as well. Wow, she would’ve thought they were both smart enough to have foreseen this.

She pressed up close to him, and slowly, carefully touched their lips together.

_You brought exactly what we need home to me._

Pepper stepped away, finally leaving Stephen space to breathe (if he could only remember how!).

Then she looked at the bewildered, clearly-turned-on Tony, smirked suggestively.

And asked him, “Are you by any chance thinking of doing something with him_ now_?”


End file.
